CALHOUN, Ga., July 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mohawk Industries, Inc. (NYSE: MHK) today announced 2021 second quarter net earnings of $336 million and diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $4.82. Adjusted net earnings were $310 million, and EPS was $4.45, excluding restructuring, acquisition and other charges. Net sales for the second quarter of 2021 were $3.0 billion, up 44% as reported and 38% on a constant currency and days basis. For the second quarter of 2020, net sales were $2.0 billion, net loss was $48 million and diluted loss per share was $0.68, adjusted net earnings were $26 million, and EPS was $0.37, excluding restructuring, acquisition and other charges.

For the six months ending July 3, 2021, net earnings and EPS were $573 million and $8.18, respectively. Net earnings excluding restructuring, acquisition and other charges were $556 million and EPS was $7.94. For the 2021 six-month period, net sales were $5.6 billion, an increase of 30% versus prior year as reported or 23% on a constant currency and days basis. For the six-month period ending June 27, 2020, net sales were $4.3 billion, net earnings were $62 million and EPS was $0.87; excluding restructuring, acquisition and other charges, net earnings and EPS were $146 million and $2.04, respectively.

Commenting on Mohawk Industries’ second quarter performance, Jeffrey S. Lorberbaum, Chairman and CEO, stated, “In the quarter, we generated the highest quarterly sales of any period in our company’s history. Our revenues increased significantly over last year, when the pandemic interrupted the global economy. Our second quarter results were significantly stronger than we had anticipated across all our businesses with sales building on the momentum from our first period. In the quarter, our EPS was the highest on record for any quarter and our operating margin expanded to its highest level in the last four years as we leveraged our operational and SG&A expenses. The actions we have taken to simplify our product offering, enhance our productivity and restructure our costs are benefiting our results. We have delivered almost $95 million of the anticipated $100 to $110 million in savings from our restructuring initiatives. Across the enterprise, we continue to respond to rising material, energy and transportation costs by increasing product prices and optimizing manufacturing and logistics.

“During the quarter, most of our manufacturing ran near capacity or were limited by material supply and labor availability. Raw material constraints in many of our operations led to unplanned production shut downs during the period. Overall, we successfully managed these interruptions that impeded our normal operations as well as regional manufacturing and customer closings related to Covid regulations in local areas. Our inventory levels increased slightly in the period, primarily reflecting higher material costs. Rising freight costs and limited shipping capacity impacted our material costs, availability of imported products, local shipments to customers and international exports. Presently, we do not anticipate near term abatement of these constraints.

“All of our markets continue to show strength with robust housing sales and remodeling investments across the world. Commercial projects are increasing as the global economy improves and businesses gain confidence to expand and remodel. Inventory levels in most channels remain low, and our sales backlog is above historical levels. To improve our sales, mix and efficiencies, we will introduce more new products with enhanced features and lower production complexity in the second half of the year. To alleviate manufacturing constraints, we have approved new capital investments of approximately $650 million to increase our production with most taking 12 to 18 months to implement. In the second quarter, we purchased $142 million of our stock at an average share price of approximately $208 for a total of $827 million since we initiated our purchasing program. With our strong balance sheet and historically low leverage, we are reviewing additional investments to expand our sales and profitability.

“For the quarter, our Flooring Rest of the World Segment’s sales increased 68% as reported and 50% on a constant currency and days basis. The segment’s operating margins increased from 5.9% to 19.7% as reported. The increase was due to higher volume, pricing and mix improvements and a reduction of Covid restrictions partially offset by inflation. All our major product categories improved significantly during the period as residential sales expanded in all regions. We have implemented multiple price increases in most product categories to cover inflation in materials and freight. Raw material supplies are problematic and have impacted our LVT production and sales the most. We anticipate material and freight challenges will continue to impact our business in the third quarter. Sales of our high-end laminate continue to grow dramatically as our proprietary products are being widely accepted as a water-proof alternative to LVT and wood. We recently completed the acquisition of a laminate distributor in the U.K. that will improve our position in the market. Our LVT sales growth was strong during the period and could have been even higher if material shortages had not interrupted manufacturing. We are significantly expanding sales of our rigid LVT collections with our patented water-tight joints that prevent moisture from penetrating the floor. Our sheet vinyl sales rebounded strongly as retail stores opened in our primary markets. Our sheet vinyl distribution in Russia has expanded, and we are maximizing production to meet the growing demand. Our Australian and New Zealand flooring businesses delivered excellent results with sales and margins exceeding our expectations. Carpet sales are strengthening with the launch of new high-end wool and triexta collections that improved our mix. To expand our existing insulation business in Ireland and the U.K., we have signed an agreement to acquire an insulation manufacturer, which is pending government approval. Our panels business is running at full capacity and so far we have been able to manage material shortages without interruptions to our operations. To enhance our panel offering, we are commissioning a new line to create unique surfaces and visuals to differentiate our offering in the market.

“During the quarter, our Flooring North America Segment’s sales increased 35% as reported and on a constant basis and operating margin was 10.7% as reported, primarily due to higher volume, productivity, pricing and mix improvements and fewer Covid interruptions partially offset by inflation. Through the period, our order rate remained strong, and our sales backlog remains above historical levels. We are maximizing output at our facilities to support higher sales and improve our service. During the quarter, our production levels were hindered by local labor shortages and material supply, particularly in LVT, sheet vinyl and carpet. Ocean freight constraints delayed receipt of our imported products, impacting our sales, inventories and service levels. We implemented price increases as our material and transportation costs increased, and we have announced additional pricing actions as inflation continues. Our residential carpet sales continued their growth as consumers continue to invest in their homes. Our commercial sales have improved as businesses increase remodeling and new construction projects. To support higher demand of our premium laminate collections, we have implemented many process improvements to maximize our U.S. production and are importing product from our global operations. Our laminate expansion remains on schedule and should be operational by the end of this year. Our new waterproof Ultrawood collections are being launched as a high-performance alternative to typical engineered wood floors. Our LVT and sheet vinyl sales continue to increase, with growth in the residential retail and new construction channels. We have enhanced our LVT offering with more realistic visuals, proprietary water-tight joints and improved stain and scratch resistance. When material availability increases, we should see further improvement in our U.S. LVT manufacturing, which will support our recent product launches.

“For the quarter, our Global Ceramic Segment’s sales increased 38% as reported and 34% on a constant currency and days basis. The segment’s operating margin increased to 13.1% as reported, primarily due to higher volume, productivity, pricing and mix improvements and fewer Covid disruptions partially offset by inflation. Our ceramic businesses around the world have greatly improved, with strength in the residential channel and increasing commercial sales. All of them have low inventories, which impacted our sales growth and service levels. We continue to raise prices to cover material, energy and transportation inflation. Our U.S. ceramic business is strengthening, and we are improving our product mix with new shapes, sizes, and surface structures. Our countertop sales and mix continued to improve as we expand our premium offering with new technologies. Our Mexican and Brazilian ceramic businesses are very strong, with our residential business in both regions at historically high levels and commercial still recovering. Due to capacity constraints, our facilities could not fulfill customer demand, so we are allocating our production. We are expanding operations in Mexico this quarter, and we have initiated new investments to increase capacity in Brazil. Our European ceramic business delivered strong sales and profitability as pricing, mix and productivity improved our margins. We increased sales of our premium slabs, small sizes, outdoor and antibacterial collections. To support sales of our high-end collections, we have initiated expansion projects which will take through next year to complete. Our ceramic sales in Russia were robust across all channels with our direct sales to customers through our owned stores and new construction projects outperforming. We have initiated expansion plans in Russia with new production expected in the second half of next year.

“The global economy should continue to improve due to low interest rates, government stimulus and the success of COVID vaccines. Around the world, flooring sales trends remain favorable with residential remodeling and new construction at high levels and commercial projects strengthening. In the third period, we expect our strong sales to continue, with typical seasonal slowing from the second quarter. We will expand the introduction of new products with additional features and increase our sales investments to enhance our future sales and mix. Material, energy and transportation inflation is expected to continue and will require further pricing actions to offset. Most of our facilities should operate at high utilization rates though ongoing material and local labor constraints will limit our production. Our Global Ceramic and Flooring Rest of the World segments will observe their European vacation schedules in the third quarter, which reduces production and increases costs in the period. In many countries, future government actions to contain Covid remain a risk and could impact our business. Given these factors, we anticipate our third quarter adjusted EPS to be $3.71 to $3.81, excluding any restructuring charges.

“We entered this year with uncertainty about Covid, the economic recovery, home renovation and new construction. Our business is stronger than we had anticipated, and we are increasing investments to support additional growth and improve efficiencies. Longer term, housing sales and remodeling are expected to remain at a high level, apartment renovation should accelerate as rent deferment expires and investments in commercial projects should continue to strengthen. We are expanding our operations and introducing new innovations to maximize our results. Our balance sheet is strong, and we are exploring additional internal and acquisition opportunities.”

ABOUT MOHAWK INDUSTRIES

Mohawk Industries is the leading global flooring manufacturer that creates products to enhance residential and commercial spaces around the world. Mohawk’s vertically integrated manufacturing and distribution processes provide competitive advantages in the production of carpet, rugs, ceramic tile, laminate, wood, stone and vinyl flooring. Our industry leading innovation has yielded products and technologies that differentiate our brands in the marketplace and satisfy all remodeling and new construction requirements. Our brands are among the most recognized in the industry and include American Olean, Daltile, Durkan, Eliane, Feltex, Godfrey Hirst, IVC, Karastan, Marazzi, Mohawk, Mohawk Group, Pergo, Quick-Step and Unilin. During the past decade, Mohawk has transformed its business from an American carpet manufacturer into the world’s largest flooring company with operations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Europe, India, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia and the United States.

Certain of the statements in the immediately preceding paragraphs, particularly anticipating future performance, business prospects, growth and operating strategies and similar matters and those that include the words “could,” “should,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects,” and “estimates,” or similar expressions constitute “forward-looking statements.” For those statements, Mohawk claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. There can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements will be accurate because they are based on many assumptions, which involve risks and uncertainties. The following important factors could cause future results to differ: changes in economic or industry conditions; competition; inflation and deflation in raw material prices and other input costs; inflation and deflation in consumer markets; energy costs and supply; timing and level of capital expenditures; timing and implementation of price increases for the Company’s products; impairment charges; integration of acquisitions; international operations; introduction of new products; rationalization of operations; taxes and tax reform, product and other claims; litigation; and other risks identified in Mohawk’s SEC reports and public announcements.

Conference call July 30, 2021, at 11:00 AM Eastern Time

The telephone number is 1-800-603-9255 for US/Canada and 1-706-634-2294 for International/Local. Conference ID # 6767965. A replay will be available until August 30, 2021, by dialing 1-855-859-2056 for US/local calls and 1-404-537-3406 for International/Local calls and entering Conference ID # 6767965.

Contact: James Brunk, Chief Financial Officer (706) 624-2239

Source: Mohawk Industries, Inc.